The Legacy of Dunstain
by Tom Jackledon
Summary: Mhenlo takes leadership of the Heroes of Ascalon for the first time to explore the roots to strange visions. He takes a group of heroes including Cynn, Aidan, Devona and the three leaders of the KCT guild


**One  
The Old Alliance**

Goll Trignet gazed out across the ocean; his eyes moving across the horizon to the east. A small shape was sitting on the horizon and it took Goll a few minutes to work out what the shape was. Satisfied, he grabbed his sword that was dug into the sand and turned back to the camp.

"Mhenlo, there's a boat approaching from the east." He called across to the monk who sat atop of a log that Goll had chopped in the woods and carried back with Aidan and Devona. Cynn sat beside him, looking up and down her staff to check for splinters and any damages. They'd now been on the coastline for three days, awaiting the arrival of Goll's fellow guild leaders. Mhenlo rose from his seat and looked into the distance, his eyes fixing to where Goll had gestured. He looked from the boat to the sky, then to Goll as he spoke.

Mhenlo looked out towards the ocean. "If the boat is coming this way, it should be here by sunset." He and Aidan came down from the camp a small time after to take a look at the approaching boat, now was already larger on the horizon line that it had been when Goll had first spotted it.

"That's definitely one of our guys, look," Goll claimed, peering out towards the ever-approaching vessel. "The guild emblem's on the sail." The boat was a considerable distance closer, faster than Mhenlo had predicted it, and the red, white and gold of Goll's guild emblem could faintly be seen flying above the deck.

"It's strange; in this generation of the guild I'm still yet to have had any contact with the other leaders. This should be a great venture for us all. Mhenlo, what did you feel about the others?" he asked, his face now becoming lost in thought. Mhenlo thought this was quite an unusual sight, as Goll didn't look like the type of man to contemplate things.

Goll Trignet was a proud Istani and a Spearmarshal of the legendary Sunspears. Goll had been born in the village of Chahbek and as a child had been taught the ways of the warrior by his father, a sunspear general until his death when Goll was reaching adolescence. Goll joined the Sunspears in order to honour his father, and felt comfortable within their ranks. For years he worked for the people of Istan, until being summoned by Kormir to take on what led to the sequence of events that changed his life forever. It had been a year since he'd taken down Commander Varesh Ossa in Kourna and then led a team of heroes into the realm of torment to the battle the dark god Abaddon and prevent his return to the world. Though he refused to let it affect him, those months of his life still penetrated his memories. The capital city of Istan now bustled with people coming from Kourna and Vabbi to pay their respects to the Sunspears and to partake in festivals and ceremonies, celebrating the fall of Abaddon and the glory of the Sunspears.

"Raikazu Pirocite is a wise man; a necromancer in fact. He's had a troubled past but he was discovered by the warmaster of Ascalon back before the Searing of our nation. He's a hero from his core, took down the lich of whom you are aware of with a group of Ascalonian soldiers who not only made it to safety from Ascalon but went on to save Tyria. He's one of the best people I could recommend to lead an alliance. Anyway, that vessel looks Krytan; it'll be Raikazu if I'm not mistaken."

Mhenlo wasn't mistaken. The sun was touching the tops of the mountains when the Krytan boat moored beside the beach, not especially large but one built to comfortably take half a dozen men. Raikazu was alone. He jumped down from the deck with a soft splash as he landed in the shallow water. Walking up to the beach, he addressed the party sitting around the campfire. "Good to see you gentlemen, ladies."

Mhenlo stood and walked past the crackling fire to shake Raikazu's hand, before introducing him to Goll, who seemed extremely curious towards his fellow guild leader. Raikazu was short and looked deceptively feeble, although he had strong, deep eyes and his armour glinted with a strong red tint whenever the sun hit its surface. Raikazu walked around the party, greeting all his fellow heroes with as little fuss as possible, he wasn't known for being particularly open.

Raikazu addressed Devona when he'd finished greeting everybody. "I'm guessing that Nick Crain will be joining us?" Devona nodded but looked amused, and she pointed towards Mhenlo. "Mhenlo's the head of this one though, so I can't answer any questions, we know as much as you."

Mhenlo looked out towards the horizon line before turning his gaze to Raikazu. "It's quite hard to explain, but I shall do my best when Nick gets here. If he's not present by sundown tomorrow, we shall carry on without him." Raikazu sad beside Devona on one of the logs around the fire and Aidan passed him some of the roasted drake flesh from the spit hanging over the fire. It had been a long journey for Raikazu, who had spent two weeks travelling from Kryta.

When they'd all sat down and shared around the remaining meat, Goll asked Mhenlo the one question that had been going through his mind since Raikazu's arrival: "Why us Mhenlo?" Mhenlo looked at the warrior with a surprised look on his face, the question having come out of nowhere.

"The three of you are some of the greatest warriors across the world, and the fact that you belong to the same guild means that you have a unified belief. To be able to have you on this quest will prove the most valuable investment I could've made. All three of you will remain in legend in the minds and stories of the people, and we have had the pleasure of working with you all.

"There are no certainties in how long we'll be here or what we'll be required to do, so I'm going to say this now; if either of you wish to return home, you may do so now without any second thoughts. However I trust that if you set out with us when the sun rises in two days, you will stick to the task at hand."

Both Raikazu and Goll had sensed the caution in the young monk's voice, while the others around him sat in the same silence. It seemed like even they had not been told of the circumstances either. Mhenlo walked away from the camp, leaving the others to ponder his words. Raikazu opened his backpack and took a charmed item that began to expand as it was withdrawn. Raikazu held a staff between his hands; one of the many magics of the neutral Xunlai guild. The Xunlai packs were given to adventurers hired by governing powers, such as the Ascalon Vanguard and the Sunspears, and allowed items to be shrunk to a size by which any item could be carried.

Goll looked at the staff and recognised it immediately. "An hourglass staff I see. They're rare things indeed. I remember one of the men I travelled with, a monk by the name of Dunkoro, once wielded one of those, an extremely flexible weapon."

"Indeed. It allows me to channel my energy through it in the same way that your friend could. It's rare because nearly anyone can use it, despite the type of magic they wish to channel. This weapon has seen many battles and many victories. It was a gift from an old friend when I returned from the Ring of Fire, before the celebration processions in Lion's Arch."

Goll continued to ask questions about Raikazu's past and his experiences after he returned from the Ring of Fire. Coming home, Goll had been honoured as the new Spearmarshal of the Sunspears, a title he was suspending while he was absent to his right-hand man. Koss Dejarin was a fellow warrior and had travelled with Goll since he embarked on his fight for the Sunspears against a corsair invasion; before the threat of Abaddon was discovered. He had heard stories from guild members and messages from guild messengers about Raikazu's many different titles. He was known by the people of his home city as the Fallen Destined, from their knowledge of his dark past, as well as the saviour of the Ascalon people, along with Prince Rurik, former prince of the destroyed land.

When Mhenlo faded out of the conversation, he took a walk down to the beach where he could feel the last of the suns warmth filtering through his robes. He removed his sandals so that he could feel the heated sand on his feet. It was getting harder to see the horizon due to the sunset, and Mhenlo began to wonder whether he'd made a mistake in bringing the heroes to the shoreline. He hadn't led the others, Devona had been in charge since they first started fighting together, and his doubts were still on edge about his abilities with his own magic, without having to concern himself with the welfare of his team.

A while passed before Aidan walked down from the camp and sat beside his friend. For a few long minutes they both sat in silence, the only sounds coming from Raikazu and Goll up in the camp and the trickling of the water brushing against the beach. When Aidan finally spoke, his voice was barely more than a whisper. "You did the right thing bringing them. I know...I know that there's times when you need to be certain about things before you take steps into them, but if you don't even completely know why we're here, then those men were our best hope of getting through this. When we go through that forest who knows what we may find? I certainly don't. But one thing I do know is that you can do this, Mhenlo. We all believe in you, so don't let your doubts get you down."

Aidan put his hand on Mhenlo's shoulder in reassurance, then stood and began to walk back to the camp. As he turned, a large shape bounded from between the trees, startling Raikazu, Goll and the girls; and alerting the attention of Aidan and Mhenlo. Raikazu moved to grab his staff, but the tiger was already bounding down the beach. Mhenlo immediately knew what was happening and put his hand out, roaring at Raikazu "Don't shoot! It's..." Before he could continue, the tiger made contact and pushed Mhenlo to the floor, falling from Raikazu and Goll's sight due to the slope. Raikazu and Goll bolted across the camp, yet Cynn, Devona and Aidan remained motionless. They reached the top of the slope where the grass met the beach and saw Mhenlo lying on the floor, the tiger above him, although rather than attacking, it seemed to be licking Mhenlo's face. "Raikazu, Goll," laughed Mhenlo, "Meet Slashclaw."

Raikazu and Goll both stood at the top of the slope, dumbfounded by what they'd just seen. It was then than another sound was heard through the trees and a man appeared, green armour covering his body and a mask around the lower half of his face. He pulled the mask away from his face to reveal young, pale skin. Raikazu couldn't help thinking he looked a lot like a younger, clean cut Aidan. In his right hand he held a small bow that looked as if it were made from maple; across his back was slung a quiver of arrows that clattered about when he moved.

"Nick, I presume," said Raikazu, moving towards the man and holding out his hand in welcome. The man nodded and took his hand, clasping the other one around it and then moving around the heroes whom he'd met, before finally coming to Goll.

"My boat strayed off course a few nights ago, I was trying to regain my position ever since, but I came across the southern edge of this island before I could get on track and get to the east. The boat isn't far west; I've only been here since sundown." Nick placed his bow down beside one of the logs and took a seat, Slashclaw bounding back from the beach and brushing past Cynn and Devona before coming to stand beside the log. Nick looked at the rest of the heroes, who all sat in an awkward silence, and asked the question the others were shying away from. "So what are we doing here?"

All eyes turned to Mhenlo, and Nick's soon followed towards the monk who sat rubbing his hands. "I've been receiving dreams. Dreams that have been calling to me for the last few moons and they've been getting stronger and stronger. They're not normal dreams, something's...different about them. They seem more like messages, visions."

"Mhenlo, you're a monk," replied Devona, "Isn't this what happens when you recognise your true magic? As a monk ascends his powers the bond between him or herself and the Gods strengthens. No wonder you're having visions."

Mhenlo put his head in his hands, trying to work out how he was going to convince the heroes to follow him. "You don't understand. These aren't your typical visions, they're calls for help they're always from the same source...I see a war, a war that's going to rage as strong as the Searing, as horrifying as Nightfall and as deadly as Tagachi's rise. But then I see peace, and I see us. We're needed here, I don't quite knew why and I have no idea who, but if we leave now people are going to die on this island. You may all leave here and return home, you should get back within a few days with these winds, but I'm going through that forest tomorrow whether it's with you all or on my own."

Raikazu stood, addressing Mhenlo directly. "You've worked alongside all of us, these guys in particular, and your skills have been an invaluable asset to us all. If there's anyone I can trust to lead me based on unexplained visions, it's going to be you."

The rest of the heroes sat around the fire laughed at Raikazu's justified joke, making Mhenlo realise how foolish he'd been to ever doubt his friends' loyalties.


End file.
